Healthy Lunch Meat Chronicles
This is my quest, for budget, health and happiness, in 2012. I don't want to fall back on purchased lunch meat or leftovers, but rather to have something special for lunch, with an emphasis on omega threes and greens. The previous fallback has been home-roasted org turkey breast, which is very easy and which I'm very fond of, but which can be pricey and less greeny and fishy than variety suggests.
So far we have had
Goals have been to steer away from cholesterol and nitrates. (Successful: I had a slice of bacon about two months ago and I nearly passed out. WOW.) And to up fish and greens. (Remind me to add sardines, smoked, in oil, to my grocery list. Licious.)
The least successful of the purpose-built for lunch dishes was the ghastly ricotta-spinach pie, which was also too ugly to want. Given two dozen farm-laid eggs, I splurged on a frittata with a ton of Parm and brocolli rabe, which is possibly among the best leftovers on the planet and full of greens.
Some of my favorite greens ingestion methods are
A big veg soup, with beefy stock and tomato and a few beans with lots of veg makes a very satisfying light hot cheap lunch. As the Asians know. Salad I find disheartening for lunch.
I have re-invested in this cookbook, deacquisitioned two moves ago, because as I recall she has great menus, good recipes for cold green soups and summery picnic dishes for keeping in the fridge, and obvs everything is cooked ahead. I like to cook every two days and freeze my own Lean Cuisines. I think this book will work for me. Maybe I'll cook my way through this and Elizabeth David's Summer Cooking this summer. Mmmmm.
http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Cuisine-Helen-Hecht/dp/0689111304
Today, it's Texas caviar, with frozen home-cooked black-eyed peas, and the Homesick Texan's bumpin' recipe. You have got to try it. Do the Rotel. You know you want to. And read the chile's blog.
So far we have had
- home-made Spam (Fannie Farmer's ham loaf with Costco ham ground at home and frozen in 1 lb. packages),
- ditto salmon loaf (not cheap. but better and cheaper with frozen wild-caught filets: I need to investigate Costco's farm-raised filets),
- home-brined tongue
- ricotta spinach pie (>:-P)
- very garlicky hummus made in 10-minutes with beans soaked overnight and cooked in the pressure cooker, served with demi-peeled cucumber dice
- Cafe Lula's awesome peanut butter, sambal, sprouts, cukes, and when in season, tomato Tineka sandwich,
- chick pea and lentil dal, with Basmati rice, brocolli, and tamarind-date chutney, which may be the perfect vegan meal...except for the quantities of CLARIFIED BUTTER in the dal
- Fergus Henderson's lima bean/cauli/leek salad
- and etc.
Goals have been to steer away from cholesterol and nitrates. (Successful: I had a slice of bacon about two months ago and I nearly passed out. WOW.) And to up fish and greens. (Remind me to add sardines, smoked, in oil, to my grocery list. Licious.)
The least successful of the purpose-built for lunch dishes was the ghastly ricotta-spinach pie, which was also too ugly to want. Given two dozen farm-laid eggs, I splurged on a frittata with a ton of Parm and brocolli rabe, which is possibly among the best leftovers on the planet and full of greens.
Some of my favorite greens ingestion methods are
- a bag of defrosted frozen spinach mixed into a nutmeggy, garlicky turkey/pork/beef loaf
- beans and greens, like chard in pureed white bean soup, or escarole sauteed with garlic and white canellinis and, finally,
- a huge veg soup, tons of celery, carrot, onion, beans, thyme with a bunch of kale in chiffonade.
A big veg soup, with beefy stock and tomato and a few beans with lots of veg makes a very satisfying light hot cheap lunch. As the Asians know. Salad I find disheartening for lunch.
I have re-invested in this cookbook, deacquisitioned two moves ago, because as I recall she has great menus, good recipes for cold green soups and summery picnic dishes for keeping in the fridge, and obvs everything is cooked ahead. I like to cook every two days and freeze my own Lean Cuisines. I think this book will work for me. Maybe I'll cook my way through this and Elizabeth David's Summer Cooking this summer. Mmmmm.
http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Cuisine-Helen-Hecht/dp/0689111304
Today, it's Texas caviar, with frozen home-cooked black-eyed peas, and the Homesick Texan's bumpin' recipe. You have got to try it. Do the Rotel. You know you want to. And read the chile's blog.